This Oscar nominated documentary is just one of many documentaries that Disney Plus seems to not want to bother with audio description. It’s like they have this huge National Geographic wing, but they are afraid to add audio description to most of it. I already reviewed The mission, which was a failed Oscar bait earlier this year, and it lacked audio description. This film, from what I can tell, deserves to be where it is. it just can’t get my vote in terms of accessibility.
We all have our causes, and I’m here to discuss film and advocate for accessibility, quality human audio description accessibility, for blind and low vision cinephiles. However, the sting of unwatchable is easy to throw around from the comfort of my home, and sometimes, just simply not grading a piece is more appropriate.
While the tale of a Ugandan pop star trying to bring democracy to his country might not seem immediately more important, when people start losing their lives for voting in a supposed fair election, my problem is less with the lack of accessibility in general, and more with the fact that more people need to know what is happening in the world around them.
It’s hard to give this film much praise with the little bit I was able to follow, but I got the general effectiveness and essential quality of this film. It is important, and I wish Disney had the foresight to describe the film. Everyone should watch this. Things like this only happen in silence, in a vacuum. If the world can be more aware from a documentary like this, perhaps the people of Uganda have a shot at true freedom.
Final Grade: no Grade Given
Projected Grade If It Had Audio Description: A
